Reports on social media indicate many residents across the Manning-Great Lakes were awoken by the dramatic thunderstorms that struck the region in the early hours of this morning, Wednesday, February 19, but thankfully no major damage has been reported.
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Forster Pacific Palms SES unit commander, Greg Dodd, said his unit received no call-outs, giving his team a much needed rest after the incidents of recent weeks.
"If it was bad they would've started calling," Mr Dodd said.
"We've had a few days off."
With hail reported to have fallen in Tuncurry, Mr Dodd said he was surprised not to have been called out, but he believed the hail must have been isolated.
"Usually with hail we get blocked gutters and rain in under the eaves," he said.
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Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) meteorologist, David Wilke, confirmed the agency had received reports of large hailstones falling in Tuncurry, but said it was not uncommon for hail events to be quite localised.
The large storm system struck the region at around 3:30am, accompanied by strong winds, rain and an abundance of thunder and lightning.
"It was a fairly active system in terms of lightning," Mr Wilke said.
He said high humidity levels in the region combined with a well-organised trough to cause the dramatic weather event.
The trough started in the south of the State on Tuesday, February 18 and moved across Central NSW as a band before hitting the Mid North Coast in the early hours of this morning.
Thankfully, wind speeds in the region didn't match those experienced in other parts of the State, with Taree recording a maximum wind gust of just over 50km/h at 4am.
Rainfall was also relatively low compared to other areas, with Tuncurry receiving 9.5mm and Taree receiving 12mm.
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Parts of Sydney recorded wind gusts of more than 100km/h, leaving thousands of people without power and one man dead after he was struck by an airborne gas bottle.
The Illawarra and Southern Highlands were also hit by very large hailstones.
Mr Wilke said there was a high likelihood of more thunderstorms developing along the North Coast and Northern Tablelands today, but the Mid North Coast was expected to see conditions ease.
However, thunderstorms were predicted to redevelop across the region throughout the weekend.
